And you found it this mornin'?"
"Yes . . . yes . . . but, Sam--"
"Hold on. You saw it layin' on the floor at the bottom of that
crack?"
"Well--well, I don't know as I saw it exactly, but--but-- No, I
didn't see it. I--I felt it."
"Oh, you felt it! Thought you said you saw it. Well, you reached
down and felt it, then. How did you get your arm stretched out
five foot long and three-quarters of an inch thick? Put it under
the steam roller, did you?"
Jed swallowed twice before replying. "I--I--" he began. "Well--
well, come to think of it, Sam, I--I guess I didn't feel it with my
fingers. I--I took a stick. Yes, that was it. I poked in behind
there with a stick."
"Oh, you felt it with a stick. And knew 'twas money? Tut, tut!
You must have a good sense of touch, Jed, to know bills when you
scratch across 'em with the far end of a five foot stick. Pick 'em
up with a stick, too, did you?"
Mr. Winslow was speechless. Captain Sam shook his head.
"And that ain't the most astonishin' part either," he observed.
"While those bills were in the dark at the bottom of that crack
they must have sprouted. They went in there nothin' but tens and
twenties. These you just gave me are fives and twos and all sorts.
You'd better poke astern of those boards again, Jed. The roots
must be down there yet; all you've scratched up are the sprouts.
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